His phone rang as he was closing up the trailer on Fire’s butt and getting ready to drive back to the hotel to get his stuff.
When he saw it was Ramsey, his oldest brother, he almost didn’t answer the phone, but then, sure as shit if he didn’t, there would be some kind of emergency.
Then Momma would be calling, or Leanne would be calling, or some other family member?—
“Hey, brother, what you need?”Leave me alone. I’m heading home.
“Called so to see how you did. I’m being friendly and shit.”
He hopped in the truck. “Is Lizzie at work, and you got stuck with the kids?”
“Actually, yes and no. Lizzie’s at work, and your man offered to take the kids, so they’re at your house.”
“So, what you called to gloat about that?” Ramsey never called him just to see how he did at the rodeo. Even if Ramsey had been the one who had ridden the rodeo like him and Dad.
“No. Actually, I called to tell you I think your man is pretty cool.”
“Yeah, so do I. But thank you for that.”
“Why do you sound so weird? You’re not even giving me shit.”
How was it that Ramsey was suddenly developing some kind of sixth sense? He’d never had one before in his whole life. Not that Campbell was aware of, anyway.
“You want me to give you some?” Cam asked.
“No, I want you to tell me what’s going on. I can tell there’s something.”
He got into the truck, sitting there for a minute with his speaker before he even started the engine. He was closed up inside. He could tell Ramsey what was going on. “So there’s this guy I’ve been on the circuit with for a while. His name is Hank.”
“Uh-huh.” Ramsey said it cautiously, and Cam wanted to scream at him that he wasn’t doing that. He wasn’t going to cheat on Mitch, but he didn’t because what did Ramsey know really?
“He came up to me today to ask me how I was doing. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and he asked me back to his hotel room for a beer—like in a sexy kitty kind of way, man.” It still baffled him.
“Have you guys had, uh, relations before?” Ramsey asked.
“No, man, he’s never come on to me once. I’m not even sure I knew Hank was swung that way.” Cam had never asked.
“So did you ask him what the deal was?”
“Yeah, I didn’t come right out and ask him what the fuck was wrong with him, but I did sort of make it clear that it was weird.” Cam finally got the truck started. He was starving, so he was going to find a drive-thru someplace and not drive through it because he had a horse trailer attached to the back of his truck. He’d park and go in. Shit, his chickens were scattered but good.
“Give me the whole conversation the way it happened.” Thought maybe Ramsey was laughing at him, but he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.
So, Cam recounted the entire conversation, Ramsey making appropriate noises at random intervals. Then Ramsey chuckled.
“What the hell are you laughing at? This is not funny.”
“Sure it is, man. It’s hilarious.”
“So did this happen to you when you hooked up and started thinking about settling down?” Maybe that was why Ramsey was so amused.
“Yes, it actually did.” Ramsey sighed. “Let me tell you a story.”
He put his phone in the clip on the dashboard and then got moving. “Lay it on me, brother.”
“So right after we got engaged, I went on the road. It was a big roping event, not a rodeo, but still it was a bunch of guys had been on tour with for years, and it was in Fort Worth, so there were lots of buckle bunnies. You know what I mean?”
“I get you.” The girls had loved Ramsey; he was a good-looking guy, popular, charming, and a hell of a roper.
